Hosea 2

Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned

11Say to your brothers, “2Ammi,” and to your sisters, “3Ruhamah.”2“Contend with your mother, 4contend, For she is 5not my wife, and I am not her husband; And let her put away her 6harlotry from her face And her adultery from between her breasts,3Or I will strip her 7naked And expose her as on the 8day when she was born. I will also 9make her like a wilderness, Make her like desert land And slay her with 10thirst.4Also, I will have no compassion on her children, Because they are 11children of harlotry.5For their mother has 12played the harlot; She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘13I will go after my lovers, Who 14give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my 15oil and my drink.’6Therefore, behold, I will 16hedge up 17her way with 18thorns, And I will build 19a wall against her so that she cannot find her 20paths.7She will 21pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘22I will go back to my 23first husband, For it was 24better for me then than now!’

8“For she does 25not know that it was 26I who gave her the grain, the new wine and the oil, And lavished on her silver and gold, Which they 27used for Baal.9Therefore, I will 28take back My grain at 29harvest time And My new wine in its season. I will also take away My wool and My flax Given to cover her nakedness.10And then I will 30uncover her lewdness In the sight of her lovers, And no one will rescue her out of My hand.11I will also 31put an end to all her gaiety, Her 32feasts, her 33new moons, her sabbaths And all her festal assemblies.12I will 34destroy her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, ‘These are my wages Which my lovers have given me.’ And I will 35make them a forest, And the 36beasts of the field will devour them.13I will punish her for the 37days of the Baals When she used to 3839offer sacrifices to them And 40adorn herself with her 41earrings and jewelry, And follow her lovers, so that she 42forgot Me,” declares the Lord.

Restoration of Israel

14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, 43Bring her into the wilderness And speak 44kindly to her.15Then I will give her her 45vineyards from there, And 46the valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will 4748sing there as in the days of her youth, As in the 49day when she came up from the land of Egypt.16It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord, “That you will call Me 5051Ishi And will no longer call Me 52Baali.17For 53I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will be 54mentioned by their names no more.18In that day I will also make a covenant for them With the 55beasts of the field, The birds of the sky And the creeping things of the ground. And I will 5657abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land, And will make them 58lie down in safety.19I will 59betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in 60righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion,20And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will 61know the Lord.

21“It will come about in that day that 62I will respond,” declares the Lord. “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,22And the 63earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and to the oil, And they will respond to 64Jezreel.23I will 65sow her for Myself in the land. 66I will also have compassion on 67her who had not obtained compassion, And 68I will say to 69those who were 70not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And 71they will say, ‘You are my God!’”